Is that a character?! Quick, run the other way! A Nov/Dec Trip Report!

Welcome to my trip report – thanks in advance for taking time to read!

Now that the holidays have wrapped and we’re back to “normal” life, I thought it was about time I stopped reading about everyone else’s trip and get rolling on my report! I had so much fun writing my first report last spring that I decided to take another crack at it (I’ve linked my first report to my signature if you’re interested). Thanks for joining me on this adventure!

The Cast & StatsThe trip included me (Mike), DW (Chrissy) and DD (Addie). Addie turned two a couple weeks before we left, so this was her official “2nd Birthday Trip”!

Trip Dates: November 29 – December 6, 2011

Resort: Boardwalk Villas

Chrissy and I are both HUGE Disney fans. We were engaged in the Rose Garden at Cinderella castle in March 2002 (almost 10 years…yikes!) and spent our honeymoon in WDW and aboard the Disney Magic in October 2003. Since then, we’ve visited at least once or twice a year. The only trip that we ever had to be “postponed” was a holiday trip we had planned for December 2009 (I was going to sing in the Candlelight Processional!). We had it all booked and a couple weeks later found out that Chrissy was pregnant and our little princess was due in November. So, we decided to postpone until June 2010 and take her on her first Disney adventure when she was 7 months old. We had an incredible trip but decided to wait until she was two to take her again. There was no way we could wait that long to return, so last March the two of us had a little getaway in the world to satisfy us until this trip! (my trip report from that adventure is posted below!) Although we were really excited to take her back now that she was older, we were also very nervous about the “terrible two’s” rearing their ugly head!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

As we exited the building, we noticed that there was virtually no line for Minnie & Mickey. We looked at each other and, since it was our last night, we decided to throw caution to the wind. We had already cancelled our character dinner and had been at WDW for a week without getting to shake hands with the Big Cheese, so we jumped into line. Addie was doing great until we walked into the room with M&M and she started to get nervous. When we rounded the corner and she saw them both, she hid her face in my shoulder. Not wanting to give up, we kept encouraging her to look and at least wave to Minnie. We finally got her to look up and the next thing we knew, she was hugging and kissing all over Minnie…FINALLY! At this point, I was still holding Addie and she didn’t notice that Mickey had walked around behind us waiting for his turn with her. Addie happened to turn around and didn’t expect Mickey to be standing so close and she lost it! Crying and hiding her face. I could tell that Mickey felt bad but I assured him that this wasn’t a first for our trip! We opted to take a picture anyway with her hiding in my shoulder. Oh well….maybe next time.

After we left Expo Hall, I realized we had yet to take a train ride around the park – one of my all-time favorite things to do. We hopped on the train at the end of Main Street and enjoyed a leisurely trip around the MK. We were able to peek at the new Fantasyland construction as we rode past the former Toontown – so sad to know that it’s gone. By the time we got off the train at our station, Chrissy and I were really hungry and guessed that Addie was ready to eat as well. We chose Cosmic Rays that night – not my first choice for our last meal at WDW, but it sounded really good in the moment. The place was crazy busy that night, so Chrissy and Addie grabbed a table while I picked up our meals. It was so loud and so crowded, that there wasn’t really time to sit and enjoy the meal. We ate pretty fast and got out of there as soon as we could.

Fantasyland was a zoo and the wait times were epic for everything, so we walked to Adventureland to visit our friends at the new Tiki Room. There was a 15 minute wait until the next show, so we took Addie over to one of the little shops behind the magic carpets and let Addie go wild. There were boxes of little musical instruments at the place and she was having a riot beating the drums and trying out everything that wasn’t in a bag! It was fun to just watch her play and savor the final hours of our trip.

 

[DisneyFan1003]

We walked back over to the Tiki Room and made it in just before they closed the door. Addie LOVED it and was enthralled with all the birds. We liked seeing the attraction back to the original and didn’t really miss the “new management” all that much. By the time we made it out, ELP had started. We cut into Liberty Square, squeezed through the Christmas shop and were able to find a little empty spot outside the shop to watch. Addie sat up on my shoulders (I made sure nobody was behind me!) and enjoyed the parade for a bit. Finally she declared “All done” when there were too many characters on the street, so we took her back inside. Since we are never able to leave that place without something, we found a couple more ornaments for our trees (even some for Sam & Jack’s doggy tree).

My traditional “last night in the MK” treat is a chocolate chip cookie & ice cream sandwich from Sleepy Hollow. Unfortunately, Liberty Square was a mob of people and we found ourselves on the wrong side of the street. Chrissy knew how much I wanted one, so she made it her mission to fight her way across the street, with Addie and I in tow, so I could make it to Sleepy Hollow – what a wife! I got my sandwich and the three of us stood and watched Magic, Memories & You (love that show!).

We knew it was getting late and we had a VERY early morning facing us, so we started our long trek down Main Street. Chrissy wanted to make a final stop in the Emporium to get a frame for Addie’s Cinderella picture, and we bought Addie a couple princess pins for her little collection. Wishes was getting ready to start, and it felt criminal to leave without watching, so we made our way to the center of Main Street to soak it all in. While we were waiting, Chrissy said that she wished we had picked up the Candlelight soundtrack since we ALWAYS forget to purchase it on our trip. I knew they carried that across the street in the art store, so I did a little dodge and weave across the street. I grabbed one and since I was the only customer in the place, I was in and out in about 1 minute. I made it back to Chrissy and Addie just as the music started for Wishes. The show was fantastic as always. I loved that moment with the three of us standing together on Main Street. I love the music from Wishes and the show is always incredible – Addie was fixated on the castle and fireworks. It was another perfect little moment together!

Wishes ended, and we knew it was the end of the trip. The three of us stood there and said “goodbye” to the MK – Addie waved and said “Bye, bye castle” – twist the knife!!! We were walking out and made our traditional last stop at the flagpole to stare down Main Street. Chrissy and I gave Addie a big hug to which she replied “stop it!” Yep – it was time to go!

The bus was SO packed on the way back – we were very grateful that some people offered up their seats. I was holding Addie and Chrissy had everything else. We made it back to BW unharmed and, as we were walking up from the bus stop, a very nice couple came up and complimented us on how well behaved Addie had been. They said that they had been on the bus with us multiple times over the past week and always noticed how good she was and that we should be proud. What a nice way to end the trip! I doubt either of them are reading this report, but if you are…thank you! We gave Addie a bath, quickly finished packing and the day was done. I will admit that I got a big choked up as I was reading Addie a story and putting her to bed – despite everything, it had been a fantastic trip. She fell asleep during her story, I put her down and Chrissy and I went to sleep knowing the next day was going to be brutal!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Departure Day – Tuesday, December 6

We planned our trip around direct flights from AirTran to our local airport which meant our flight home left at 8:00 AM. That, in turn, meant that our pick up from DME was at 4:50 AM – OUCH! Chrissy and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 3:30, showered, dressed and put the rest of our stuff in bags. Around 4:15, we started to get Addie out of her bed. Surprisingly, she was awake without incident, although understandably drowsy! We got her dressed, grabbed our bags, said goodbye to our villa at BW and headed downstairs. In the past, we’ve always lucked out and found a cast member at the airline check-in desk prior to it’s 5:00 AM opening. Sadly, that was not the case on this morning. Just as we saw them arriving, DME pulled up and there was no time, so we had to drag our suitcases with us and hope for the best at the airport. The ride was uneventful and Addie stayed awake the entire time. Thankfully, we were dropped off and found a very short line at the Airtran desk. We were checked in and on our way to the gate within about 10 minutes. Security rolled through smoothly and we found our gate. Addie was entertaining herself with books and toys, so I ran to Starbucks for bagels and juice. Not wanting to take her away from her fun, we constructed a little table out of a carry-on bag and had a picnic at the gate, which Addie thought was really fun. After we ate, we still had lots of time to kill, so I put Addie in her stroller and we did laps around the terminal. She had fun looking at all the Christmas decorations and it kept me from falling asleep! Finally it was time to board and everything went smoothly. Addie was excited to sit in “her chair” again and was ready to watch more movies. Chrissy had bought her a set of little Princess figurines and we slowly handed those out during the flight to keep her happy. While other kids were melting down, she stayed content and had fun with her new toys and movies. She fell asleep for about 45 minutes of the flight and that gave us a chance to grab a quick nap before landing. We were back in Central Illinois in no time (please contain your jealousy!!) and off the plane by 9:45 CST. Chrissy and Addie waited for our bags and I went to fetch the car. By the time I got back, the bags had arrived. We tossed everything in the car and were home shortly after 10:30. Back to reality…..at least until October!!


Thanks again for reading.....up next....final thoughts on the trip!

 

[joanna71985]

What a great TR! Maybe I'll get lucky, and see you at some point in Oct

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

How did I just see this report now after it's been up for a month???? Well the good thing was I could read the whole thing through!

What a great report! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it tonight. Addie is by far one of the cutest little girls I've ever seen! Her character encounters had me cracking up...at least you tried right? :lol: Seriously though, the picture with her and Cindy...priceless. I have to admit I got teary-eyed reading that part!

I also think it is super cute that she had her tongue sticking out in most of those pics..maybe her version of excitement? :shrug:

I really love all of your pictures you had of different angles. Those were really cool.

And I'm super jealous you stayed at the Boardwalk!!! It is my DREAM to stay there, it's my favorite resort I've never stayed in haha. I love the fact that you are within walking distance to two parks, and the Boardwalk itself is just beautiful!!!!!! I'm so happy you loved it there!

I love all the photopass pictures you took as a family. The three of you make a very very cute family!

And love how you got your haircut at the Barbershop! My mom got hers cut there too this past September and she even got the pixie dust! Definitely a different experience.

Phew that was a lot of comments! Thanks for bearing with me! And thanks again for sharing your trip with us!!! It was a pleasure to read!!!!! :sohappy:

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

So I was definitely tearing up over here when you talked about how much Addie loved the Nemo show.... and when you talked about how great the Princess meet and greet went... And when you talked about leaving for the last time.... Gosh, I'm tearing up over everything here!!! lol

SO excited you had such an amazing trip! I can't wait to see Disney through the eyes of my children one day... But for now I'll continue to enjoy it at my go go go pace! I know once I have kids I'll have to slow down. It sounds like you guys still saw and did so much. That's awesome!!!

Thanks for posting :wave:

 

[mamamouse]

WOOHOOO how many days until the next one????

 

[fractal]

Great TR! Thanks for taking the time and effort.

I bet your daughter would get a kick out of reading this report 10 year or so from now.

 

[DisneyFan1003]

What a great TR! Maybe I'll get lucky, and see you at some point in Oct

Thank you for reading! We'll be there October 27-November 3. Hopefully you won't witness a meltdown, but if you see us, be sure to say "hi"!

How did I just see this report now after it's been up for a month???? Well the good thing was I could read the whole thing through! :

Sorry you were late to the party, but glad you joined in and enjoyed the report!

What a great report! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it tonight. Addie is by far one of the cutest little girls I've ever seen! Her character encounters had me cracking up...at least you tried right? :lol: Seriously though, the picture with her and Cindy...priceless. I have to admit I got teary-eyed reading that part!:

Thanks for those kind words - we're pretty biased, but agree she's the cutest! The character encounters were interesting...we can defnitely laugh about them now. I LOVE that picture with her and Cinderella. One of those moments you have in your mind when you first dream about taking your kids to Disney...but to see it happen was priceless!

I also think it is super cute that she had her tongue sticking out in most of those pics..maybe her version of excitement? :shrug::

She does that all the time and we don't know why! Don't know if it's her nerves or if she just likes to torture me and mess up my pictures. Oddly enough, she won't do it for professional pics - probably because she knows it will cost Mommy and Daddy money! :ROFLOL:

I really love all of your pictures you had of different angles. Those were really cool. :

Thanks for the compliment - the camera was new as of last spring, so I really don't have a clue what I'm doing yet. Still trying to figure it out, but nice to hear that someone likes them besides me! lol

And I'm super jealous you stayed at the Boardwalk!!! It is my DREAM to stay there, it's my favorite resort I've never stayed in haha. I love the fact that you are within walking distance to two parks, and the Boardwalk itself is just beautiful!!!!!! I'm so happy you loved it there! :

It was great - especially beautiful during the holidays and the location cannot be beat. Loved being that close to all the different restaurants and, of course, walking distance to two parks. Very nice benefit when dealing with a stroller.

I love all the photopass pictures you took as a family. The three of you make a very very cute family! :

Thanks! I was glad some of them came out as well as they did - it's hard to know what you're going to get when you just hand off your camera to a stranger, so we relied heavily on PhotoPass this time and bought the disc.

And love how you got your haircut at the Barbershop! My mom got hers cut there too this past September and she even got the pixie dust! Definitely a different experience.

Phew that was a lot of comments! Thanks for bearing with me! And thanks again for sharing your trip with us!!! It was a pleasure to read!!!!! :sohappy:

Haircut was awesome - I will certainly do that again. Loved it!

Thanks again for reading - glad you enjoyed it!!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

So I was definitely tearing up over here when you talked about how much Addie loved the Nemo show.... and when you talked about how great the Princess meet and greet went... And when you talked about leaving for the last time.... Gosh, I'm tearing up over everything here!!! lol

SO excited you had such an amazing trip! I can't wait to see Disney through the eyes of my children one day... But for now I'll continue to enjoy it at my go go go pace! I know once I have kids I'll have to slow down. It sounds like you guys still saw and did so much. That's awesome!!!

Thanks for posting :wave:

Thank you for the nice comments! I have always been a total sap (really bad when it comes to WDW), but having a kid took my sappiness to a whole new level. Chrissy and I would talk about how fun it would be when we got to take our kids - surreal now that we're actually doing it!

You definitely learn to take it slow when you go to WDW with a kid, but it's not as bad as we thought it would be. We've both learned to enjoy WDW on a different level. We still plan to take a little trip "just us" every now and then to relive our crazy pace of the past!

Thanks for reading!

WOOHOOO how many days until the next one????

As of today....241.....far too many in my opinion!!! :brick:

Great TR! Thanks for taking the time and effort.

I bet your daughter would get a kick out of reading this report 10 year or so from now.

:ROFLOL::ROFLOL: I hope so! I feel like I picked on her a bit, but if we can laugh about it, she should as well! I need to go back and try to write a report from our first tirp with her, just have have as a keepsake.

Thanks for reading!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Final thoughts….

- Traveling to WDW with a toddler is certainly a game changer - Addie was so easy as in infant that we were lulled into a sense of security! To be fair, overall she was fantastic on this trip. The few bad experiences we had were, I’m sure, as much our fault as hers. In the end, I wouldn’t change a thing!

- Characters – I will admit her reaction was more than a little disappointing. My advice to other parents traveling with toddlers would be to attempt some meet & greet opportunities in the parks early in your trip to gauge the level of interest/fear. Save ADR’s for character meals until the end of your trip to give your child time to get used to the WDW madness.

- Avoid ADR’s for lunch! At this age, their personalities (and often, daily schedules) change so fast that it’s impossible to book 180 days out and get it right. I think we would have had much better dining experiences if all our ADR’s had been for dinner and we just winged it for lunch, like we did over the last few days of the trip.

- Rider swap – in our opinion, it ate up far too much time to bother. We’re weird in that we find the rides less exciting when we’re alone (Awwww, sweet and sappy!), so that was a buzz kill. Add to that the fact that it can take twice as much time (or more) for both of us to get through the line while the other was entertaining Addie, we finally gave up. We had more fun doing stuff together. Just my two cents!

- Car seat on the plane = money well spent! As I mentioned earlier, I took advantage of a sale at Toys R Us on black Friday and got a great deal on a lower end seat (overall safety rating for a seat only traveling on a plane wasn’t high priority for me). Just make sure it has “the sticker” that says it’s safe for airline travel. The flight attendants did check. This allowed us to keep our nice, expensive seats safe in our cars and bring something along that didn’t bother us if it got knocked around. I think Addie also felt a lot more comfortable in her own seat and buckled in the same way she is in a car. Worth every penny!

- Airplane ride with a toddler – definitely bring a DVD player, iPad, etc. and load up on their favorite movies. We also bought an inexpensive new toy before we left and gave that to her on the plane. Kept her entertained for a long time. It worked so well that we bought something else on the trip and gave that to her on the ride home.

- Boardwalk – loved it! The location cannot be beat! I will admit I was a bit underwhelmed at the villa – only in the sense that it was practically a replica of the villas at SSR. Both beautiful and decorated differently, but the floorplan, overall look, etc. were the same. Other villas we’ve stayed at seemed fairly unique from one another, so this was a little surprising. Overall though, we loved BWV and will surely stay there again!

- Princess lunch at CRT – worth every penny if your kid is into the princesses – just watch out for that red icing!

- DSLR and a toddler in the parks – I’m still on the fence! I LOVE my new camera and, although my photos are nowhere near as spectacular as some on the boards, the quality of these pictures over my old point & shoot is night and day. I found it very difficult to handle the camera in the parks while trying to keep track of Addie and our stuff. I often felt like Chrissy was alone on “Addie duty” while I had the camera. I never seemed to have the right lens on at the right time and I’m still very novice in learning my settings. A camera never seemed to get in the way of vacation before like it did on this trip. I think we’re going to buy a nicer point and shoot before our October trip and make that our primary park camera. I’ll bring the DSLR along and use it when I have an opportunity to go play and take pictures. The couple times I did that on this trip, I had a great time! If any of you “pros” out there have advice (Tom, Holly, etc.), I’d love to hear it!

- Time of year for this trip – hands down one of our favorite! We’ve travelled many times during the holidays, but it has always been between December 25 and the first week of January. We loved taking advantage of all the holiday events, decorations, etc. without the insane crowds that come with the last week of the year.

- MVMCP – we LOVED the party, but certainly did not get to take advantage of a fraction of the offerings. Again, this was mainly due to Addie’s character issues – hoping for better luck next time. To those of you considering investing in tickets, it’s well worth it even if you only see a little bit!

I guess that about wraps it up! Thanks again to everyone for reading – I hope you enjoyed our adventures! If you have any questions about the things we did, or traveling with a toddler, feel free to ask and I’ll be happy to answer.

Now we’re counting down until October 27….far too long in my opinion!!

See ya real soon! :wave:

Mike

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Mike I loved reading along!
Even though things were different since you guys had a toddler along it still sounds like you guys had a fantastic time! I'm so glad to see Addie loved the princesses at the end and even Minnie! Those pictures were TOO PRECIOUS! Hopefully next time Mickey won't sneak up on her :animwink: I thought it was very cute all of the magical moments you and your wife got to spend with her. I loled at your "Central Illinois jealous huh?" comment! Haha! That's the worst coming home from their "fall days" of warm sunny weather to snow and freezing temps

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Mike I loved reading along!
Even though things were different since you guys had a toddler along it still sounds like you guys had a fantastic time! I'm so glad to see Addie loved the princesses at the end and even Minnie! Those pictures were TOO PRECIOUS! Hopefully next time Mickey won't sneak up on her :animwink: I thought it was very cute all of the magical moments you and your wife got to spend with her. I loled at your "Central Illinois jealous huh?" comment! Haha! That's the worst coming home from their "fall days" of warm sunny weather to snow and freezing temps

Thanks for reading along! Yes, it was definitely a different kind of trip for us, but we had a blast. Addie is already talking about going to see the castle again, so we have high hopes for our trip this fall! Crossing our fingers that she likes the characters a bit more this time! :ROFLOL:

Ugh....Central Illinois. Nuff said! I can't really complain about our winter (or lack of one) this year, but it was still a bummer leaving that goreous weather and coming back to cold and quasi-snowing!

Glad you enjoyed the report!

 

[dnswalker]

Very good trip report!!! I enjoyed all of the lovely pictures of your baby girl. She is so beautiful! You guys did very well with her. We avoided taking our little one to WDW until she was 7. Even at that age you learn to let them set the pace and only do as much as they can handle.

It looks like you three had a great time! Thanks for sharing with us!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Very good trip report!!! I enjoyed all of the lovely pictures of your baby girl. She is so beautiful! You guys did very well with her. We avoided taking our little one to WDW until she was 7. Even at that age you learn to let them set the pace and only do as much as they can handle.

It looks like you three had a great time! Thanks for sharing with us!

Thanks for reading - glad you enjoyed the report! Despite everything, I think she traveled really well and we had a great time. Definitely looking forward to our October trip - this time she'll actually remember having been there before. We're crossing our fingers the characters get a bit more love this time!

:ROFLOL:

 

[Kevin_W]

Thanks for reading - glad you enjoyed the report! Despite everything, I think she traveled really well and we had a great time. Definitely looking forward to our October trip - this time she'll actually remember having been there before. We're crossing our fingers the characters get a bit more love this time!

:ROFLOL:

We took our daughter at about the same age a couple years ago and the characters we're a bit scary to her - she wanted to observe from a same distance, but dind't want to go up and say hi. 6 months later when we went back, she was hugging all of them (except Goofy)!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

We took our daughter at about the same age a couple years ago and the characters we're a bit scary to her - she wanted to observe from a same distance, but dind't want to go up and say hi. 6 months later when we went back, she was hugging all of them (except Goofy)!

I hope we have a similar experience! We weren't totally surprised by her reaction, but a bit disappointed. Hoping for better luck this time! She talks about going back on a daily basis...maybe this time she'll understand a bit more!

Thanks for reading!